Part II: Life with a PT Cruiser and how life comes at you fast
OK.
I have to be honest with you.
I did not like the PT Cruiser.
At all.
I felt very uncomfortable driving it.
It seemed so big, for one thing. And certain features were located in obscure places. For example, the automatic window controls were NOT on the driver’s side door, as they are on every other car I have ever driven or seen. They were… on the dashboard, in the center, by the radio/CD player! Go figure.
The passenger side dashboard was all shiny and reflected everything I was passing. This was distracting and unnerving, as I was already jumpy from having just been hit.
The car is not AWD, like my beloved Subaru. And we are in the dead of winter here. A completely awful, snow, rain, sleet, ice-covered winter. The very next day after I got my PT Cruiser, it snowed a ton and the boys’ school was canceled. I spent hours shoveling the driveway, and the snow just kept a-coming. The roads were terrible, and I decided there was no way I was going to risk my life driving in to work with this new rental car that I had had less than a day and which did not have AWD. The place where I work ended up closing down at 3 anyway and sending everyone home, so I felt pretty righteous about my decision to call off.
I just could not stomach the thought of another accident.
Oh, and did I mention that the PT Cruiser reeked of cigarettes? My younger son commented: “Gee, this car smells just like a hotel room.” Well, the hotel rooms HE might ever stay in. Not me. But I knew what he meant. It was disgusting. So bad, in fact, that when I picked up Valentine cookies and candy on my way to work, I ended up dropping them off at home first because I was afraid if I left them in my car all day they would smell and taste just like cigarettes. Ugh.
I know, I know, you are thinking I am just a whiny baby. But I have to tell ya, the karma just was not right with that car.
I was ill at ease driving it, and it was not a fun car to drive. Plus, I was totally stressed out about my first accident, and I was very jumpy as I drove. I kept seeing people going through stop signs and stop lights and swerving and slipping and plowing into my car. I was a nervous wreck making my commute to and from work every day.
Then on the Sunday after I got the PT Cruiser, as I was just starting to come to terms with my new rental vehicle, life came at me fast.
My one son and I had just dropped off a gift at his friend’s house, and we were on our way to pick up my other son from a sleep over. We were driving through a residential area, that, granted, was in the woods. We were just driving along, minding our own business when – WHAM!!! – I head a loud crash sound.
I immediately imagined that a car must have hit me (as I had flashbacks to accident day), but I couldn’t imagine how as there weren’t any cars near me. My son later said he saw a flash of black to his right (he was in the front passenger seat), and he imagined it to be a person running into our car!
I turned to my right rear, where the noise had come from, and I saw a deer running off into the snow and woods.
I could not believe it! Where had this deer come from? I had not even seen a deer!
Another car was coming from the other direction, toward us, and the driver momentarily stopped. As I was getting out of the car, he drove on. Apparently, he didn’t think it was anything too serious.
I walked around the back of the PT Cruiser to see what the car looked like and was stunned to find the right rear passenger window completely shattered and the passenger door dented. There was deer hair all over the place.
I simply could not believe this had happened.
A deer had come running out of the woods and right into the rear of my PT Cruiser RENTAL car and then run off again.
My son got out to look for the deer. It had not been a large deer and it had no antlers, so it was either a female deer or a really young male deer. I could not imagine, given the extent of the damage, how the deer could possibly be all right. And I am sure that it wasn’t. But my son couldn’t find signs of it anywhere.
I wrote down all of the details of the accident in my little notebook. (I was fast becoming an expert on writing accident reports!)
I was so thankful that neither my son nor I had been hurt. I had barely even felt the crash as we were not driving all that fast. I was particularly glad that my son had been sitting up front with me. Usually, I make him ride in the backseat, but I had let him sit up front with me that day. Can you imagine if he had been in the backseat and the deer had come crashing through the window right on top of him?
As it was, he said he saw that flash of black to his right and then turned to see what it was. That was right when the deer hit the car behind him and the window shattered. He said he instinctively turned away from all of the shattering glass (thank God!) and when he turned around again he saw the deer running off, just as I had.
I was left somewhat in a state of shock by this whole episode.
I consider myself to be a very cautious, safety-conscious driver, and now all of a sudden, out of the blue, I had been involved in two car accidents in less than one week!
Of course, it was cold and rainy out, too, so now I had rain coming into my car through the open window. Glass shards and pieces were everywhere. And all that deer hair!
Since it was a Sunday, I couldn’t get a hold of anyone at either my car insurance company or the rental office where I had gotten the car.
I would just have to wait until Monday morning and drive the car back to the rental place and see what they said. I wasn’t sure if they would give me another car or not, but my Subaru was to be in the shop for at least sixteen more days.
In the end, both my insurance company and the rental car place were more than gracious. The representative at my insurance company reassured me that this type of thing happened more than you would think. The rental car place was fine with it, too; they had me in a new rental car that same day.
Luckily, I had taken out the extra insurance. My car insurance company had told me not to, that my auto insurance covered rentals in the same way it covered my own car. The rental place told me that the extra insurance meant I was totally covered. In the event of an accident, I would not have to pay the deductible from my car insurance. Given that the additional insurance was only $10 a day, that was a LOT cheaper than my deductible! Which I may well still have to pay for the FIRST accident. Even though that was not my fault.
I realize that deer don’t have insurance (unless they go through Hartford!), so I could see how I might have to pay for the freak deer accident as no one else would. But the rental company assured me I was totally covered, and they weren't even going to report the accident to my car insurance company.
At first the representative at the rental company wanted to give me a mini van.
I balked.
I was so spooked now; I wanted a small car, something more like my Subaru. I have never driven a mini van in my life, and the thought of driving one in the snow and ice did nothing for me. Hell, I wanted to be invisible!
Never mind that I have driven tanks and deuce and half trucks before.
A mini van is not a tank.
To me, it was just a giant target on the road.
In the end, the rental car place gave me a red Dodge Caliber. I had never heard of such a vehicle before, but then again I am pretty ignorant as far as car models go. As far as I was concerned, it was a “red car.” And it was similar in shape and size to my Subaru.
I instantly felt way more at ease driving this Caliber.
And it didn’t smell like cigarettes.
I am embarrassed to admit that I am somewhat traumatized by these two accidents, back to back.
I am extremely nervous and jumpy as I drive. That fight or flight adrenaline is just a-pumping away as I make my daily commute. But I go the same route I always do, and I pass the scene of the first accident every single day. I notice every driving infraction anyone ever makes; I allow boneheads to cut in front of me, pass me, do whatever they want to as long as they don’t crash into me. I actually had a tailgater honk at me when I stopped for a red light the other day. Apparently, he wanted me to gun it at the yellow light and cross two lanes of highway traffic in icy conditions during rush hour with snow falling pell mell.
No thank you, sir!
Honk away.
Once the light turned green and we turned onto the two-lane highway, he gunned around me and zoomed down the highway. Yeah, a real man.
Or an idiot.
Take your pick.
I even have dreams about getting hit. This is almost like PTSD. (Which makes me wonder how people who REALLY have gone through trauma must feel!)
I was just in two little stupid fender bender-type accidents.
The other night I dreamed that everywhere I drove I had to swerve out of the way of cars in order to avoid an accident. Trucks were backing up into traffic, cars were drifting over into my lane, people were ignoring stop signs and lights right and left. My mom was in the car nagging me, my kids were in the back seat bickering. All of a sudden a pack of wild dogs ran across the road right in front of me. I braked, but I hit one of the dogs and I can still hear its howl of pain and distress.
The dream just kept going on and on like this, seemingly all night long. Finally, I said, “Screw it!” and I got out of the car and just started to walk.
Only then, the pack of wild dogs came back and started chasing me down.
And then my alarm went off.
Oh, joy!
Time to get up and drive to work.
I have to be honest with you.
I did not like the PT Cruiser.
At all.
I felt very uncomfortable driving it.
It seemed so big, for one thing. And certain features were located in obscure places. For example, the automatic window controls were NOT on the driver’s side door, as they are on every other car I have ever driven or seen. They were… on the dashboard, in the center, by the radio/CD player! Go figure.
The passenger side dashboard was all shiny and reflected everything I was passing. This was distracting and unnerving, as I was already jumpy from having just been hit.
The car is not AWD, like my beloved Subaru. And we are in the dead of winter here. A completely awful, snow, rain, sleet, ice-covered winter. The very next day after I got my PT Cruiser, it snowed a ton and the boys’ school was canceled. I spent hours shoveling the driveway, and the snow just kept a-coming. The roads were terrible, and I decided there was no way I was going to risk my life driving in to work with this new rental car that I had had less than a day and which did not have AWD. The place where I work ended up closing down at 3 anyway and sending everyone home, so I felt pretty righteous about my decision to call off.
I just could not stomach the thought of another accident.
Oh, and did I mention that the PT Cruiser reeked of cigarettes? My younger son commented: “Gee, this car smells just like a hotel room.” Well, the hotel rooms HE might ever stay in. Not me. But I knew what he meant. It was disgusting. So bad, in fact, that when I picked up Valentine cookies and candy on my way to work, I ended up dropping them off at home first because I was afraid if I left them in my car all day they would smell and taste just like cigarettes. Ugh.
I know, I know, you are thinking I am just a whiny baby. But I have to tell ya, the karma just was not right with that car.
I was ill at ease driving it, and it was not a fun car to drive. Plus, I was totally stressed out about my first accident, and I was very jumpy as I drove. I kept seeing people going through stop signs and stop lights and swerving and slipping and plowing into my car. I was a nervous wreck making my commute to and from work every day.
Then on the Sunday after I got the PT Cruiser, as I was just starting to come to terms with my new rental vehicle, life came at me fast.
My one son and I had just dropped off a gift at his friend’s house, and we were on our way to pick up my other son from a sleep over. We were driving through a residential area, that, granted, was in the woods. We were just driving along, minding our own business when – WHAM!!! – I head a loud crash sound.
I immediately imagined that a car must have hit me (as I had flashbacks to accident day), but I couldn’t imagine how as there weren’t any cars near me. My son later said he saw a flash of black to his right (he was in the front passenger seat), and he imagined it to be a person running into our car!
I turned to my right rear, where the noise had come from, and I saw a deer running off into the snow and woods.
I could not believe it! Where had this deer come from? I had not even seen a deer!
Another car was coming from the other direction, toward us, and the driver momentarily stopped. As I was getting out of the car, he drove on. Apparently, he didn’t think it was anything too serious.
I walked around the back of the PT Cruiser to see what the car looked like and was stunned to find the right rear passenger window completely shattered and the passenger door dented. There was deer hair all over the place.
I simply could not believe this had happened.
A deer had come running out of the woods and right into the rear of my PT Cruiser RENTAL car and then run off again.
My son got out to look for the deer. It had not been a large deer and it had no antlers, so it was either a female deer or a really young male deer. I could not imagine, given the extent of the damage, how the deer could possibly be all right. And I am sure that it wasn’t. But my son couldn’t find signs of it anywhere.
I wrote down all of the details of the accident in my little notebook. (I was fast becoming an expert on writing accident reports!)
I was so thankful that neither my son nor I had been hurt. I had barely even felt the crash as we were not driving all that fast. I was particularly glad that my son had been sitting up front with me. Usually, I make him ride in the backseat, but I had let him sit up front with me that day. Can you imagine if he had been in the backseat and the deer had come crashing through the window right on top of him?
As it was, he said he saw that flash of black to his right and then turned to see what it was. That was right when the deer hit the car behind him and the window shattered. He said he instinctively turned away from all of the shattering glass (thank God!) and when he turned around again he saw the deer running off, just as I had.
I was left somewhat in a state of shock by this whole episode.
I consider myself to be a very cautious, safety-conscious driver, and now all of a sudden, out of the blue, I had been involved in two car accidents in less than one week!
Of course, it was cold and rainy out, too, so now I had rain coming into my car through the open window. Glass shards and pieces were everywhere. And all that deer hair!
Since it was a Sunday, I couldn’t get a hold of anyone at either my car insurance company or the rental office where I had gotten the car.
I would just have to wait until Monday morning and drive the car back to the rental place and see what they said. I wasn’t sure if they would give me another car or not, but my Subaru was to be in the shop for at least sixteen more days.
In the end, both my insurance company and the rental car place were more than gracious. The representative at my insurance company reassured me that this type of thing happened more than you would think. The rental car place was fine with it, too; they had me in a new rental car that same day.
Luckily, I had taken out the extra insurance. My car insurance company had told me not to, that my auto insurance covered rentals in the same way it covered my own car. The rental place told me that the extra insurance meant I was totally covered. In the event of an accident, I would not have to pay the deductible from my car insurance. Given that the additional insurance was only $10 a day, that was a LOT cheaper than my deductible! Which I may well still have to pay for the FIRST accident. Even though that was not my fault.
I realize that deer don’t have insurance (unless they go through Hartford!), so I could see how I might have to pay for the freak deer accident as no one else would. But the rental company assured me I was totally covered, and they weren't even going to report the accident to my car insurance company.
At first the representative at the rental company wanted to give me a mini van.
I balked.
I was so spooked now; I wanted a small car, something more like my Subaru. I have never driven a mini van in my life, and the thought of driving one in the snow and ice did nothing for me. Hell, I wanted to be invisible!
Never mind that I have driven tanks and deuce and half trucks before.
A mini van is not a tank.
To me, it was just a giant target on the road.
In the end, the rental car place gave me a red Dodge Caliber. I had never heard of such a vehicle before, but then again I am pretty ignorant as far as car models go. As far as I was concerned, it was a “red car.” And it was similar in shape and size to my Subaru.
I instantly felt way more at ease driving this Caliber.
And it didn’t smell like cigarettes.
I am embarrassed to admit that I am somewhat traumatized by these two accidents, back to back.
I am extremely nervous and jumpy as I drive. That fight or flight adrenaline is just a-pumping away as I make my daily commute. But I go the same route I always do, and I pass the scene of the first accident every single day. I notice every driving infraction anyone ever makes; I allow boneheads to cut in front of me, pass me, do whatever they want to as long as they don’t crash into me. I actually had a tailgater honk at me when I stopped for a red light the other day. Apparently, he wanted me to gun it at the yellow light and cross two lanes of highway traffic in icy conditions during rush hour with snow falling pell mell.
No thank you, sir!
Honk away.
Once the light turned green and we turned onto the two-lane highway, he gunned around me and zoomed down the highway. Yeah, a real man.
Or an idiot.
Take your pick.
I even have dreams about getting hit. This is almost like PTSD. (Which makes me wonder how people who REALLY have gone through trauma must feel!)
I was just in two little stupid fender bender-type accidents.
The other night I dreamed that everywhere I drove I had to swerve out of the way of cars in order to avoid an accident. Trucks were backing up into traffic, cars were drifting over into my lane, people were ignoring stop signs and lights right and left. My mom was in the car nagging me, my kids were in the back seat bickering. All of a sudden a pack of wild dogs ran across the road right in front of me. I braked, but I hit one of the dogs and I can still hear its howl of pain and distress.
The dream just kept going on and on like this, seemingly all night long. Finally, I said, “Screw it!” and I got out of the car and just started to walk.
Only then, the pack of wild dogs came back and started chasing me down.
And then my alarm went off.
Oh, joy!
Time to get up and drive to work.
posted by delta at 5:24 PM
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